Thermal generator.



W. W. GOBLENTZ.

THERMAL GENERATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 8, 1913. 1197731 9, Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

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WILLIAM ,W.. CO.BL ENTZ, or wAsHINeTom DISTRICT or COLUMBIA. l i

* THERMAL GENERATOR.

Specification of Letters fatent. Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

-Application.flledAugust. 8, 1913. serialmo ntmel.

(DEDICATED TO IKE JFHBLIC.)

"tion.

This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, chapter 143 (U.SnStatute XXII, page 625), and the lnvcnt-ion'herein described andclaimed may be used by the Government of the United States or any of itsoflicers or employees in the prosecution of work for the United Statesor by any person in the United States without payment of any royaltythereon.

The object of my invention is to provide a device whereby llght rays maybe utilized to generate an electric current of such a capacity as to douseful work.

A further object of my invention is to provide a thermal generator ofcheap and strong construction, requiring absolutely no attention andhaving no parts which can get out of order.

Further objects will be apparent from the detailed description and fromthe drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a top plan view of onepractical embodiment of my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 represent side andend sectional views, respectively, of the embodiment illustrated inFig. 1. Fig. 4: represents a wiring diagram.

Similar reference characters refer similar parts in all the figures.

The casing 1 may be of any suitable con tour and may be of any suitablematerial, such as Wood or metal, which will give the requisitestiffness. Inside of said casing and resting on a suitable inwardlyprojecting portion of said casing is the supporting member 2. Thissupporting member 2 serves the purpose of supporting the thermalelements/ of the generator. Said supporting member may be of anysuitable material and may take any suitable form, but in practice itwill be found'convenient to make this member 2 of concrete, which, beinga .good insulator will prevent short circuiting between the thermalelements. The concrete may be reinforced in any suitable manner. Thethermal eleme s may be any of the materials well known in the art, suchas, .for.example,-constantan or bismuth for one of the elements, andcopper or iron for the other. These elements are firmly em bedded inthe, concrete as illustrated.

As may-be seen froman inspection of the drawing, the thermal elements 3and 4 are connected to one another above and below the supporting member2. At the junctures-which lie above the member 2 are sol- Thesereceivers are covered with a thin layer 6 of a substance such asasphaltum, which will absorb a large portion of the incident light. Thesubstance chosen must of course be an insulator to prevent shortcircuiting. As illustrated, the elements 3 and 4 are arranged inparallel rows. rangement may of course be used. will of course beapparent that the relative thicknesses of the asphaltum 6 and theconcrete 2 are distorted and exaggerated in the figures. This distortionis necessary for the purposes of illustration.

Mounted in the casing 1 above the layer 6 are arranged one or moresheets of glass 7, separated by air spaces. The box portion provided bythe casing 1 and the sheets of glass 7 should be more or less air tightto prevent the convection of heat. It has been found that in a thermallywell insulated box Any other arcovered with two or three sheets ofordinary window glass it is possible to obtain a rise 1n temperature of100 degrees centigrade, or even more, above the surrounding tempera-.ture, winter or summer.

The diameters of the wires should be so chosen that loss of heat byconduction from the hot junctures is a minimum. As is known, this isapproximately attained by choosing the radii of the wires comprising thetwo thermal elements so that the ratio between the heat conductivity andthe electrical resistance is the same in both.

The cold junctures lying below the supporting member 2 may be shieldedfrom the light and heat by means of the walls 8 or by any otherconvenient means. One practical way of accomplishing this purpose is tohave these portions arranged under water.

The structure illustrated will be sutficient to cause such a differencein temperature between the hot and cold j unctures of the thermalelements when strong light from the sun is admitted to the casing 1'that a current of electricity will be produced of sufiicient strength todo useful work. The device readily lends itself to the adaptation ofconcave mirrors or other suitable 'means to concentrate the light orheat rays.

Fig. 4 shows one means of connecting the rows of elements. It isapparent that any other arrangement of connections may be used. y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. In a thermal generator, the combination of joined elements providinghot junctures and cold junctures, receivers for said hot junctures,alayer of heat-absorbing material surrounding said receivers, and acasing provided with a transparent cover inclosing said hot junctures.

2. In a thermal generator, in combination, a supporting member ofcementitious material, thermal elements embedded in and extending throuh said supporting member,

said elements being joined to one another on both sides of saidsupporting member, a layer of heat absorbing materlal surrounding oneset of junctures, a casing provided with a transparent cover inclosmg'said layer, said transparent cover permitting light'to strike saidlayer.

In testimony whereof I in the presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses:

WALTER B. EMERSON, PHILIP VARNUM WELLS.

aflix my signature WILLIAM w. COBLENTZ.

